Chapter 11 - Happy Choices

The lift dinged, and we had reached ground level. We all walked out, and the security guard opened the main door for us. As I walked out, a black Mercedes came into view. It was parked at the curb, and a guy was leaning on it, talking on his phone. I recognized both. Blake and Lilly were right behind me and stopped to see who this guy was.

Vince saw us and ended his call before turning and opening the passenger door. I smiled a little. He was always a gentleman.

I turned around, and Lilly’s face had a big grin on it, but Blake’s face was serious.

“Is that Vince Callum?” He asked.

Shit! Of course, Blake knew him. He was one of the guys that slept with Kyra.

“Yeah, it is. Taylor’s brother” I was nervous again.

“Well, have a goodnight, boss. See you in the morning,” Lilly said and gave me a wink before laughing and walking towards her car.

“You’re seeing Taylor’s brother?” Blake said and stepped closer to me.

“I’m not seeing him. I’m just having dinner. I’ve known him since I was 13.” I was annoyed.

He had a problem with Vince, which I understood. But don’t go accusing me of things.

“You know he-...” I cut him off.

“Blake, stop. I’m sorry Vince has hurt you, but it’s got nothing to do with me. I’m just having dinner with the guy.” I said to him.

He tensed up a little and looked over my shoulder. Vince was standing behind me.

“Is there a problem?” Vince asked. I could feel he was standing very close.

“No, not at all,” I said and turned around. “Let’s go” I started to walk away, and Vince followed.

“Rosy...” Blake called out, and I stopped to look back at him. He had a pained look on his face.

“Please be very careful” was his response before he walked away.

“What’s his problem?” Vince asked.

“You are!” I replied and sighed. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.”

Vince took us to a nice Italian restaurant. We chatted for hours about so many random things. In my head, the scene from Vince asking Kyra to leave played over and over again. I was very aware of Vince’s intentions, but here I was, instead of keeping my distance, I was leading him on. What were my intentions with Vince? I liked him, and I didn’t doubt that. But, facts and logical thinking governed my feelings and emotions. My entire life was based on the fear of being used and taken advantage of. Man and their ability to fuck and wake away was not new to me. I just didn’t want it happening to me. I’ve seen the damage it does and the consequences it brings.

My heart told me that Vince wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t treat me like trash, but logic was telling me not to believe that. I’d known Vince was a heartbreaker. He had slept with his share of girls. I’ve only ever heard once that Vince was in a committed relationship. He’d been with models, actresses, trust fund babies, and even some older women. So his interest in a plain Jane like me was absurd. So why was he so interested? Was Blake right to say for me to be careful...

My thoughts were all over the place, but I masked it all and enjoyed my time. After dinner, Vince wanted to go to the pier for ice cream, but I insisted we go home. I wanted to see Taylor and feel some normality come back to my life.

The drive home was quiet. Vince pulled into the underground park, and Rocky’s car was no longer there. He parked in that spot, and we made our way to the lift. I pressed the level 10 button, and the lift moved but stopped on the ground floor. Someone had pressed the button there.

The doors opened, and there stood a sweaty Blake. Oh god, kill me now!

Just like the previous night, Blake had obviously been on a run. He looked red and was panting extra hard. He looked between Vince and me and walked in.

“Vince, you know Blake Cooper?” I said, trying to lessen the awkwardness.

“Yeah, everyone knows Blake Cooper. Nice to finally meet you,” Vince said and extended his hand for Blake.

“I can’t say I’m delighted to see you, sorry. My hands are yucky and sweaty. Maybe next time” Blake’s voice was sour and blunt.

Vince had already pressed the level 10 button, so we waited for the doors to close. We stood in awkwardness for the 2 minutes the lift took. I’ve never felt so much tension in a room before. I couldn’t help but pray for the lift to hurry up.

Once at level 10, the door opened, and I quickly walked out. Vince followed me and Blake walked to his door.

“Didn’t realize you lived next to this famous guy,” said Vince. I rolled my eyes.

“Actually, Vince, I did tell you last Friday. If you remember, we had a conversation about this with Chris,” I reminded him.

“Ahh, yes we did,” he replied. He knew and remembered all of this. He was just trying to wind Blake up, and it was working because the next thing I heard was Blake’s door slamming shut.

“Vince, was that necessary? He’s my boss. He can’t go hating me because I had dinner with you,” I said as we walked in. Vince shut the door behind us, and I could hear the tv going. I ran towards the couch and jumped on the two people.

“YOU’RE BACK!” I screamed and hugged Taylor!

She laughed and hugged me back “yes, babe, I’m back!”

“I’ve missed you so much. Don’t leave me like that again” I held her tight my voice cracked a little.

“Oh, Hunny, I won’t! You only just saw me yesterday. What’s wrong with you?” She asked, rubbing my back.

“Can we go have a chat? I need some girl time,” I replied.

“Let’s go” she got up and pulled me up with her. She walked into my room and shut the door behind her.

“Okay, spill. What’s going on?” She lay on my bed and stretched out.

“Blake kissed me,” I blurted out.

“He did what now?!” She shouted, her eyes the size of a flying saucer.

I sighed and plopped down next to her.

“We had dinner last night, and he was telling me his sad life story. I went to comfort him and hugged him. When I pulled away, he was very close, and he kissed me” I covered my eyes with my hands to hide my embarrassment.

“The worst part was that I told him this morning, then it was my first kiss,” I said quickly and turned my face away from Taylor.

“Oh, bloody hell Rosy why the fuck would you do that?” She asked, her voice still high.

“I don’t know!!” I whined.

“Oh, oh, it gets better!” I said, sitting up now. “Vince came to pick me for dinner, and Blake saw it. Vince was one of the guys his ex fucked. He was so angry when he saw Vince with me and kinda even warned me before he walked away.”

“Oh dear lord!” She facepalmed herself.

“So now what do I do?!” I slumped back on my bed and buried my face in my hands.

“Babe, what do you want to do? It sounds like both the boys would happily rip your clothes off and make you beg them to stop, but who do you want?” She said, and I groaned.

“I like Vince, Tay. I really do. He’s amazing, and he seems like he does really care. That kiss with Blake was just something that happened in the moment. I don’t even know Blake. Yes, when I saw him that first day, things in me were brewing, and it may still be. His hot, and I will admit that I do want him to nasty things to me but is that what I’m really after?” I was pacing around my room now.

“Okay, Rosy, calm down. Come here.” She pulled me onto the bed and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She rubbed my arm, and I focused on her breathing and tried to match it. Was I really having a panic attack right now?

“Rosy, if you like Vince that much then why don’t you give him a chance? I guarantee my brother will keep you very happy.” She promised.

I didn’t want to tell her my reason. Vince was her brother, and end of the day, blood was blood. I just had a gut feeling that made me question Vince’s intentions. Maybe I was overthinking this. Was I really going to lose a fantastic guy like Vince because I had a gut feeling?

“You know what, Tay, I will. Vince deserves a chance to prove himself, and I can’t just make a decision about him based on what others think.” A big smile spread across Taylor’s face as those words came out of my mouth.

“OH MY GOD!” She screamed, and I covered my ears. She was going to damage my eardrums, yelling that loud so close to me.

“I’m so happy! Finally, you’re going to be part of my family officially!” She was so excited.

“Hey hey hey! I said a chance, not marriage. Calm down, will you” I stated and narrowed my eyes at her.

Taylor didn’t care. She got up and started dancing. I shook my head at her and picked up my PJs, ignoring her excitement.

“I’m going to have a shower.” I laughed and walked into the shower.

15mins later, I was showered and dressed. Taylor had left, and I was hoping she ordered dinner. I grabbed my comfy robe and walked into the living area. The lights were dim, and the tv was on. I walked into the kitchen and looked to see what they were watching.

The Witcher. Of course.

Taylor had been hooked to that show. It looks like it wasn’t just her. I grabbed a bottle of water and walked toward them. Taylor and Rocky were snuggled up on one end of the massive L-shaped couch we had with popcorn. Vince, who had now changed, was stretched out on the bottom of the L. There was a gap between him and the annoying couple. I walked over and climbed into that spot. Vince turned and looked up at me.

“Hey, look who’s back. We thought you’d gone to sleep,” Vince said in between eating popcorn.

“Well, I really should go to bed. I didn’t get much sleep last night, but my brain isn’t turning off” I hit my head and rubbed it.

“Shall I get you a hammer? If you hit your head with that, you might fix it,” chirped in Rocky, and I showed him the middle finger. They all burst out laughing.

The episode they were watching ended right then.

“Okay, I need more popcorn and a toilet break before the next episode,” said Taylor, and she got up.

“I’ll go get the popcorn,” Rocky walked into the kitchen.

“I’ll go to the toilet then” Taylor walked towards her room.

I leaned over and picked up popcorn from Vince’s bowl.

“Hey, that’s mine,” he fake whined and smiled.

“I took just one; get over it.” I rolled my eyes.

For some reason, I was cold. I pulled my robe closer and looked around for the couch blanket. Vince was snuggled up with it.

“You’ve got my blanket.” I pointed to it.

“Well, how about we share?” He was wagging his eyebrow at me.

“What are you sharing?” Taylor asked, walking in and sitting back down.

“The blanket. Rosy wants her blanket back, and I don’t want to give it up. So I’m suggesting we share” Vince laughed and pulled up the blanket on one side for me to get in next to him.

“Hurry up and make a decision. We’re going to start the next episode” Rocky came back and handed me a bowl of popcorn too. I smiled up at him. He was very thoughtful.

I looked at Vince, who slowly dropped the blanket now. I moved closer to him and pulled the blanket over me. Blanket and body heat was going to keep me warm. Vince moved a little to make more space, put his left arm around my waist, and pulled me closer. I snuggled into him. He was warm and cozy.

I looked over, and Taylor and Rocky were both looking at us and eating their popcorn.

“The TV is that way, guys,” I said, laughing.

“Oh, this show is way better,” Rocky muttered. His tone was so serious we all just started laughing.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s watch. I’m dying to know what happens next,” Taylor exclaimed and nudged Rocky.

Vince pulled me closer as if I was going to fall off the couch. He was trying to make sure I was comfortable. Vince put his bowl on the table behind the couch and pulled the blanket up. His free arm was now wrapped around my waist and his head resting on my head. This felt really nice. Maybe this would be the right decision.

Taylor played the episode, and even though I wasn’t interested, I had my eyes focused on the TV.

Vince was not going to let this opportunity slide. His hands somehow found their way through my robe and under my shirt, and he started drawing circles with his thumb on my tummy. It was the first time his hands had found a spot like that, and it was annoying me because it tickled.

“Vince, that tickles,” I said quietly, hoping Taylor and Rocky wouldn’t hear.

“I’m not sorry is all I will say.” His voice was right in my ear. His lips caressed my ear, and I closed my eyes. He carried on drawing circles.

Halfway through the episode, Rocky and Taylor called it a night. They said they were too tired. Vince wanted to finish the episode, so they went to bed, and I was left alone with Vince, still wrapped in his arms. Once they were gone, it was like Vince had been given the green light to torture me more. His whole hand was under my shirt now, and he was drawing circles with them all. I whined a little because it tickled even more.

I turned around to tell him off, but his face was very close, and I lost my train of thought. He looked down at me and brought up one hand to cup my face.

“Give me one chance, Rosy” His thumb was caressing my cheek, and I couldn’t take my eyes away from his blue orbs that held me captive.

“If you screw this up, I’m going to lose more than just a boyfriend, so please don’t make me regret it” a breathtaking smile spread across his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes then” he lowered his lips to mine, giving me the chance to stop him if I wanted to. But, instead, I stretched my neck and captured his lips. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me onto his lap, and I wrapped mine around his neck.

At that moment, I was thinking about the kiss with Blake. That kiss had so much passion and felt so good; kissing Vince felt dull. There were no sparks, no passion. Why was this so differe